India’s heatwave is likely to deliver another four to five days above 40 degrees after more than 1700 deaths have been recorded since May 18

The mercury hit 47 degrees in the worst-hit state of Andhra Pradesh in the south where 1334 people have died, The Press Trust of India news agency reported.

Doctors have warned people not to go outside, and to cover up in turbans and umbrellas if they do, CNN reported.

• More deaths from major heatwave in India
• New El Nino system for Australia
• Chill out: energy saving tips for summer

“Our wards are completely full,” said J V Subbarao, medical officer at the Rajiv Gandhi Institute for Medical Sciences in Andhra Pradesh, AAP reported.

“I have worked as a medical officer in this district for 40 years and I have never seen anything like this, with so many people arriving already dead.”

One man outside Hyderabad told CNN his 38-year old son was one of 70 people to die of heatstroke in his village when he left the house to get medicine, but collapsed on the way back.

In Telangana state, residents felt 48 degree heat that led to more than 340 deaths, which is ten times as many who have died from similar issues in 2014, AAP reported.

Experts say official figures for heat-related deaths likely underestimate the true number because extreme weather conditions disproportionately affect the poor who are less likely to die in hospitals.

Forecasters said there was little hope of any immediate respite from the temperatures in northern India, which have been aggravated by hot, dry winds.

“We think that these heatwave conditions will take another four to five days to subside,” said Brahma Prakash Yadav, director of the Indian Meteorological Department.

— With AAP